Gas Prices Surge Ahead of Christmas/New Year in Unusual Trend

Largest December rise in national average gas price in six years as OPEC cuts oil production

FROM GAS BUDDY

As millions of Americans take to the road to celebrate the holidays, many are being forced to dig deeper in their wallets. Nationally, gas prices have seen their largest December rise in six years and are likely to continue rising through the holidays as oil producing countries agreed to cut production, boosting oil and gasoline prices.

“When The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries announced production cuts November 30, we knew we were likely to see gasoline prices rise almost immediately. There’s never a good time to see gas prices rise, but ahead of the holidays just seems like the worst,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. “Oil prices spiked after OPEC’s production cut agreement was announced, pushing gasoline prices higher in 41 states. At a time of year Americans are busy opening their wallets to shop for gifts, they’ll have to dig deeper to fill their tanks, too.”

Currently the national average for a gallon of gas is $2.25 and continuing to rise. Motorists watching expenses won’t like comparing prices to a year ago, when the national average fell to $1.99 per gallon with 69% of stations at $2 or less. Over half of U.S. states have seen prices rise double digits in the last month, with some cities seeing even larger increases, making a tank of gas $5-$10 more expensive than just a month ago: